Enabling children with special needs : Shruti,LTC'13

Many small people, in many small places, do many small things, that can alter the face of the world.

 Shruti Suresh, an alumnus of Lead The Change, a Youth Alliance initiative is one such individual. Sensitive, passionate and driven Shruti made a choice to engage and work with children with special needs.  To combine together, knowledge and instincts, she is currently pursuing a course on Special Education (Intellectual Disability) from Lady Irwin College, Delhi University.

Shruti with her mom

Shruti holds a strong belief that disability is something constructed by the society and not by individuals and hence wants to work towards sensitizing society against discrimination. She aims to make children with special needs recognize their full potential to an extent where they can be made as independent as possible. She also expects that organizations such as Youth Alliance should include discrimination against persons with special needs as one of the issues to be focused upon during their Youth Leadership programs.

About her experience with Lead The Change, Shruti says, “I was in an uncertain place at the time I did Lead The Change program as to what to do next (after my graduation). One thing I knew was that I wanted to work in the social service space."

"The visit to Naz,an NGO working on HIV/AIDS and sexual Health,where I got to meet kids who were HIV+ was a real eyeopener for me. It was a truly humbling experience to see and feel their positive energy. I realized that whatever problems I had was nothing in comparison to theirs. This and the guidance I received from interacting with the Youth Alliance team inspired me to choose the path I'm on right now" she says. 

Youth Alliance wishes Shruti all the luck in her endeavors and hopes that she goes a long way in spreading awareness and inclusion of children with special needs in the society.